‘It Ends with Us’ Movie Makes Lily Seem Like the Red Flag at First
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Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel “It Ends With Us” follows protagonist Lily Bloom, a florist, who falls in love with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid. Now, not all of us have read the novel, so it’s reasonable to assume that many of the nuances in Lily’s story from the novel don’t fully make their way into the onscreen adaptation.
“It Ends with Us” deals with the theme of domestic violence and how Lily learns about the darker side of Ryle as their relationship progresses. Having grown up in a family where her father was abusive toward her mother, Lily struggles to accept that the same cycle of violence is repeating in her own life. This, by the way, is barely depicted in the movie and is something we just have to assume as viewers, especially those who haven’t read the novel. Again, I’m only guessing that the novel handles its themes far more seriously and in greater depth because in the movie, the creators skirt around the issue for most of the runtime. In fact, the screenplay for “It Ends with Us” makes the movie unfold like a thriller for no reason and unwittingly ends up portraying Lily Bloom as a problematic character. Let me explain.
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In the movie, when Lily Bloom (Blake Lively) and Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) first meet, Ryle is clear about not wanting anything serious, so Lily says they won’t be seeing each other again, as she doesn’t want a casual fling. A few days later, they run into each other at Lily’s flower shop, and in an incredible coincidence, Ryle turns out to be the brother of Lily’s new employee and friend, Allysa. Ryle tries to flirt with Lily again, but she says they’d be better off as friends. However, she is clearly attracted to him too, so the two end up dating.
One day, Lily reveals that her mother is visiting and that she’s taking her out for dinner at a new restaurant. Ryle invites himself, claiming he would love to meet her mother, even though Lily doesn’t seem too enthused about it. This, frankly, looked a little odd considering she was the one looking for a serious relationship. Anyway… at the restaurant, Lily discovers that their server is Atlas, her ex-boyfriend, whom she used to be madly in love with. She quickly catches up with him on the side and then doesn’t tell either her mother or Ryle about it. This was odd and uncool—why hide running into an ex you dated 15 years ago from your current partner? Isn’t trust supposed to be the basis of a relationship? And if you think your partner cannot handle a simple truth like that, why date them? Unless, it’s Lily who still has strong lingering feelings for the ex and thus doesn’t want to share that part of her life with anybody yet. That’s where she first seems like a red flag in the movie.
Next, we see Lily and Ryle having a date night at his place. Ryle offers to cook for Lily, and while they’re flirting, Ryle realizes that his dish is burning. He rushes to the oven, accidentally burns himself, and breaks some dishes. Lily, while trying to help, falls and bruises herself in the chaos. Ryle sustains an injury to his hand from the mishap. Later, the two go out for dinner with Ryle’s sister at a restaurant run by Atlas, even though Lily tries to change the venue, but to no avail. At the restaurant, Atlas sees Lily’s bruised face and Ryle’s injured hand and assumes Ryle has hit Lily. The two men have an altercation at the restaurant, coming to blows, even though Lily tries to explain it was only an accident and that Ryle didn’t attack her.
A few days later, Atlas visits Lily at her shop and leaves his contact number hidden under her phone cover. Weeks later (the film doesn’t even make the timing clear), things seem to be going great between Ryle and Lily, and the two get married in a quick ceremony with just close friends. A few days later, Ryle accidentally drops Lily’s phone, discovers Atlas’ contact card, and feels betrayed. They fight over it, Ryle leaves the flat in a rage, and Lily follows him. She tries to pacify him, and he pushes her away in anger, causing her to lose her balance and fall down the stairs, injuring herself. Again, the fall in the film is depicted as an accident. And you also wonder, why carry an ex’s card on your phone while you’re married to someone else? But okay, to give Lily the benefit of the doubt, let’s assume she simply forgot the card was there.
Finally, as the climax approaches, Ryle sexually assaults Lily, despite her constant refusals to his advances, revealing him for the monster he is. After the assault, Lily leaves the flat and goes to Atlas for refuge (because apparently, she hasn’t made any friends in the past decade or so). It’s only then that she reveals how Ryle had really hit her on the night of their cooking date, and it wasn’t an accident, as an accurate flashback of the incident is shown instead of the ‘accidental’ bruise it was made out to be at first. Another accurate flashback shows Ryle deliberately and maliciously pushing Lily down the stairs in anger; she didn’t just slip and fall. This is when you feel frustrated as a viewer—why show these as accidents in the first place? Why build Ryle up as a hero when Lily hadn’t misread the situation? And then it makes sense that she kept Atlas’ card as an emergency contact.
So, yeah, the screenplay for “It Ends with Us” was deceptively annoying. The creators play down the domestic violence theme and try to frame the movie as some sort of romantic triangle, instead of deeply exploring Lily’s past trauma and current relationship troubles with her husband.
Thankfully, Lily Bloom finds the strength to end her abusive relationship and star afresh, but the story of the domestic violence survivor isn’t handled with the patience and attention it needed. And not everybody has a high school sweetheart waiting around the corner like a puppy to help them out of a dangerous situation.
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